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Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

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Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#121

Post by tssva »

climb_stealth wrote: post #79
tssva wrote: post #28

When we 1st separated in 2011 my ex-wife and I along with our young daughter stayed in the same house for about a year. It was definitely not the most comfortable of situations but I've had worse living arrangements in my life. After selling the house we both rented town houses. We should have done more communicating about that because we unknowingly ended up renting 2 doors down from each other. That was the living…

What gets me is that this wasn't even your worst living arrangement. I hope things have been moving up for you since.

My worse living arrangements were before this happened. The severely bi-polar girlfriend who stopped taking her meds and the alcoholic roommate who would become violent come to mind.

I currently live in a refurbished and expanded 19th century farm house on a 209 acre property with a horse farm which my fiancee owns. I retired in August at 54. I spend my days taking care of the property, horses and our daughters while my fiancee is off to the city during the week for work.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#122

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

YiraldyGuber wrote: post #116
mplewis wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Diversity means you are allowed to peacefully exist without someone wanting you dead for your identity.

Imagine saying that to the families of the victims in the couple high-profile stabbings in European cities over the last week, where foreign men set out deliberately and explicitly to kill White people. I moved to a quiet country town, >99% White, and the worst part about it is that my arm is getting tired from waving back to all the lovely strangers who smile and greet me everywhere I go. I really can't imagine any…

While I can't speak for all European cities, we know basically nothing about why a man in Dublin (who was white, btw) stabbed some kids. It's a little early to be deciding why that happened.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#123

Post by rurp »

slymon99 wrote: post #57
threeseed wrote: post #38

> Housing Costs Are So High They left out the "in the trendy, inner city areas we want to live in" part. Because whilst housing prices are rising in cities we are also seeing major declines in populations for smaller towns. And whilst our parents were willing to sacrifice and embrace these towns which in turn became gentrified it doesn't seem current generations feel the same way.

Cities have jobs. Cities have opportunity. Cities have diversity. Why should we expect, encourage, or even desire that young people sacrifice economic and social opportunity and mobility? Why is the response to high housing cost in cities lecturing "current generations" about their choices? There are glaringly obvious problems in many of our cities that make housing so expensive. Is it so outrageous to try to solve t…

I think the answer is both. We should work to improve city conditions but the reality is that there is a supply/demand mismatch and not everyone gets to live comfortably wherever they want.

The city I grew up in is too expensive for me to afford as an adult. It would be nice if I could, but I've never felt like the world owed it to me to live there because I want to. People moving to cheaper and less crowded areas to try and improve their quality of life is a story as old as time.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#124

Post by soupfordummies »

threeseed wrote: post #38

> Housing Costs Are So High They left out the "in the trendy, inner city areas we want to live in" part. Because whilst housing prices are rising in cities we are also seeing major declines in populations for smaller towns. And whilst our parents were willing to sacrifice and embrace these towns which in turn became gentrified it doesn't seem current generations feel the same way.

Housing is also expensive an hour out from the cities.

Why doesn't everyone just move out into the middle of nowhere where it's affordable? Probably because there's not many jobs there?

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#125

Post by alex_lav »

huytersd wrote: post #39
alex_lav wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own my home and will be selling it at probably-a-loss next year because I have no use for it anymore. It's far larger than I need and I am no longer partnered. I'll be renting a studio or 1br and am very excited. I would love to sell this place to a young family or couple looking for a starter home.

Why not rent it out and pay for your studio that way.

It would probably take 40-50k to make the house legal to rent (at least, from what I understand about the requirements to rent it). Which would then just mean I have to own it for longer.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#126

Post by [deleted] »

rurp wrote: post #123
slymon99 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cities have jobs. Cities have opportunity. Cities have diversity. Why should we expect, encourage, or even desire that young people sacrifice economic and social opportunity and mobility? Why is the response to high housing cost in cities lecturing "current generations" about their choices? There are glaringly obvious problems in many of our cities that make housing so expensive. Is it so outrageous to try to solve t…

I think the answer is both. We should work to improve city conditions but the reality is that there is a supply/demand mismatch and not everyone gets to live comfortably wherever they want. The city I grew up in is too expensive for me to afford as an adult. It would be nice if I could, but I've never felt like the world owed it to me to live there because I want to. People moving to cheaper and less crowded areas to…

[deleted]

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#127

Post by YiraldyGuber »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #122
YiraldyGuber wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine saying that to the families of the victims in the couple high-profile stabbings in European cities over the last week, where foreign men set out deliberately and explicitly to kill White people. I moved to a quiet country town, >99% White, and the worst part about it is that my arm is getting tired from waving back to all the lovely strangers who smile and greet me everywhere I go. I really can't imagine any…

While I can't speak for all European cities, we know basically nothing about why a man in Dublin (who was white, btw) stabbed some kids. It's a little early to be deciding why that happened.

He is Algerian, and was due for deportation years ago before NGOs intervened.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#128

Post by RestlessMind »

mlinhares wrote: post #100
RestlessMind wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or any big city in Europe? Many big cities in Europe are having housing crises of their own - Lisbon, Amsterdam, London etc. Just today, there was this thread bemoaning the housing situation in Netherlands - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38444948 > Sometimes I wonder if Americans travel out of the US at all. Sometimes I wonder if people know real facts about Europe or just have some rosy imagination or gener…

And they're still better than most cities in the US in terms of housing, density, and infrastructure. With its half-million population, Lisbon has better public transportation than my lovely Philadelphia, with its joke subway with two lines. I'd bet Lisbon's trolleys have better coverage than SEPTA has for the whole city in PHL. And, mind you, Lisbon is among the poorest capitals in the European Union. I could easily…

Context of the discussion is that density solves the housing cost problem. I pointed out that European cities have both a high density and a serious housing problem, which is now impacting national elections (see the example I gave about Dutch elections thread).

Saying they are better than the US is not really relevant to this discussion.

> I could easily live in Lisbon right now if it wasn't for the low EU salaries (and my wife really loving being in the US).

Exactly my point. Lisbon has all the goodies you mentioned (I too liked it when I visited) and yet one needs a US salary to afford a decent house there. Not possible on the median local salary.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#129

Post by earthling8118 »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #82
4death4 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why do cities have all the opportunity? Most likely because the capital owning class lives in cities and has been systematically draining wealth from more rural areas via globalization and the erosion of workers' rights. I'm not saying young professionals need to concern themselves with such lofty ideals, but I do think it's a valid to question why there are only a few pockets of opportunity left in the country.

But why do cities have all the opportunity? This is an overstatement. In large parts of Midwest United States (and Canada), you can be middle class by farming. That is "opportunity" -- not amazing, but a good, middle class life in a small, safe town. Also, it is easy to own your home in a farming community -- much easier than large city or suburbs. It would better to ask why do cities have so much more opportunity in…

You can't just move to the midwest and become a farmer. Particularly if you don't have incredible financial mobility in the first place. The cost of land alone is immense and that isn't factoring in equipment.

Having come from such a town, I would not describe it as safe. Things are cheap and most of the people who are there are stuck there because they have no economic mobility. Yes, there are plenty who choose to and enjoy it but that isn't the bulk of the population.

Re: Housing costs are so high that divorced couples are still living together

#130

Post by Obscurity4340 »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #120
climb_stealth wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What gets me is that this wasn't even your worst living arrangement. I hope things have been moving up for you since.

It could work well for some people. One of my father's cousins swapped wives with his best friend. They were quite amicable about it and continued to be friends including going on holiday together.

Variable > enum ;)
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